Sweet Finnish Bakery
I'd love to know what people who have been there think. Is it worth a trip from Back Bay?
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I actually live around the corner from this place and I like it, but there's no way I'd make a special trip from BB for it unless you are a major freak for cardamom pastries. If you are, I'd call them ahead of time and let them know you're coming, and that you want to buy a bunch of pulla. Then it might be worth it, because I don't know where else in Boston you can get a pulla (except at the SWEA festival at the Cyclorama at the beginning of December).
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re: powella
I live in the neighborhood too and am somewhat of a freak for cardamom pastries, having major Norwegian roots. The pulla at SF is pretty close to what my mother and aunt used to make. I've found that they need to be sliced and toasted like an english muffin to be really good, even when seemingly "fresh". The "pulla with a surprise" is interesting too, with a sweet filling of pear, apple, or almond paste inside. Nothing else I've seen there looks appealing and I agree that the space they have seems enormous for whatever it is they are trying to do. For Scandinavian pastries, a road trip to Rockport or Barnstable would be more fulfilling. If coming to Jamaica Plain for any type of bakery products, Canto Six is the place to check out.
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re: jpsox
oh that's interesting about the pulla surprise--i think the time i had it at sweet finnish, it was just an ordinary pulla with a slice of cooked apple on top. not much of a surprise. but if they make it with a filling, that could be tasty--is that how it normally is at sweet finnish?
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re: jpsox
jpsox, can you specify where in Rockport or Barnstable a cardamom freak would satisfy him/herself? I actually stumbled into a coffee shop/diner in Rockport once (I don't get up there much so I don't remember the name) and had some outstanding loaf of cardamom-spiced bread. TIA...
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re: powella
powella, I think you found the place in Rockport I was thinking about. I don't know the name of the place either, but its a tiny little coffee shop with not much more than a counter with 12-15 seats and a couple of tables, maybe. They make nisu, which is the Finnish name for what Norwegians call yulecake, which my mother used to make and is sometimes called Swedish coffee bread. On the Cape, West Barnstable has a large Finnish contingient and really good nisu/yulecake used to be sold at Ojala Farm Bakery, right near the junction of Rts 6A and 139. Its been a long time nice I lived in the area so things make have changed. Surprisingly, we also used to get very good nisu/yulecake at the Centerville Hearth and Kettle, which is a small chain of comfort food/bakery restaurants in SE MA. That was a long time ago too, but I bet if one wondered into any one of the number of sleepy little general stores, bakeries, and lunch spots anywhere along Rt 6A from Sandwich to Yarmouth, you'd find some good nisu and pulla.
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If you want to try Finnish baked goods that are difficult to find anywhere else, you should try it. I've never had anything stale here, and in fact enjoyed everything I've tried.
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